David Černý

Sculptor David Černý, unlike most Czech contemporary artists, is one of the most media-visible personality in the Czech republic’s art world. He often creates figurative sculptures designed for public space. Much more than sorting out isolated aesthetic problems he is drawn to intervening in societal relationships and enlivening (animating) media space.

David Černý studied design and later sculpture at the Academy of Arts. However the independent cultural scene of the late 1980s/early 1990s had a more decisive impact on him than his studies.The first larger public reaction came from his sculpture of a dying trabant placed on Prague’s Old Town Square (1990). When he painted army tank, serving as a monument to the Soviet Army, with pink colour, he provoked nation-wide discussion and debate. At the time it was a unique, politically-motivated artistic event that earned broad media coverage.

Among the artist’s most recent realization is the work called The Head of Franz Kafka, which is located in front of the building of the Prague shopping center Quadrio. The movement, of the 11 meter statue, is provided by 42 synchronous motors. The soul of the sculpture is a unique code, which includes 15 programs, which make up the final choreography of the movement of the face.